New England Friends

Whenever we travel to New England, we always spend some time visiting with Abe's second family, the Irwins.

This is their beautiful house.


And these are their beautiful faces:

Roger

and Susie

(Please note that these are file photos...Gilly, the baby pictured with Brother Irwin, is now in five years old. Soren, the fetus I've got a protective arm slung over, is now three and a half.)


Abe hung out a lot with their son, Jared, all through his growing up years. He also worked for Roger on his dairy farm. I'm very very grateful for the love that Susie and Roger have for Abe and for all the patience, time, and farm equipment they put into helping him grow and mature. It is always wonderful to visit their cozy home and catch up with them. This last visit I had the opportunity to visit with their daughter, Lynn (pictured above in another file photo from 2006), who is now one of my favorite human beings of all time. She's converted half of the Irwin's old farmhouse into the most charming (and organized) dwelling of all time, and she, her husband, and their three adorable children are currently living there. Lynn and I commiserated over the raising of spirited children (her oldest, my oldest) and she gave me some children's books, so I'm pretty much bound to her forever by the sacred links of motherly suffering and Ahlberg illustrations.

We also got to visit with Mark and Rachel Mailhot. Mark is another one of Abe's adolescent compatriots and another honorary family member. While Mark can be somewhat questionable at times, all is forgiven because he is married to Rachel, who is every bit as lovely as her name. During this last visit, we got to meet their new baby, Liahona, who was just a few weeks old. She was a super duper sweetie pooh.
(This picture does not include Lia, as it is is another really really ridiculously old photo. 2005, I think.)

This is a picture of me driving Brother Irwin's tractor in 2006. This was the first time I'd ever driven a tractor. It was the time of my life.

Irwin horses. (Er, I mean 'hauses.')

Irwin Chipmunk

A little photographic excursion in 2006. (Brother Irwin is a photographer.)

On this last trip, Soren and Liam made a new friend. Eternity is a little girl that my mother-in-law watches a couple days a week. She was SO CUTE and Soren played with her much more nicely than I've ever seen him play with anyone. It must not have been too nicely though: after we left, Eternity asked Abe's mom, "Where did that naughty boy go?"

Eternity loved taking care of the baby, and Liam loved having a 3-year-old to play with who didn't periodically conk him over the head or try to gouge out his eyes.